From Hydra, our family travels took us on a ferry, where Mia threw up, to a train, a flight to Rome, and then another train to finally reach Venice. Mia showed the most excitement when arriving to Venice because the promise of water taxis and canals. Having been to Venice, I was most excited to visit Murano after reading The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier.
We arrived in the evening and fortunately were greeted by the Venetian Sabina, originally from Calcutta, who showed us where to go because the narrow winding streets made it difficult to locate our apartment. We weren't the only ones struggling to navigate the labyrinth of Venice streets, and we stopped to help two women from Cornwall, England separated from their tour group.
Our first day as we navigated the labyrinth, we came to a street that ended in the water. From this location, I leaned out and snapped a photo of the Bridge of Sighs, so named because prisoners sighed as they passed through being led to prison. From there, we made our way to Piazza San Marco, which has Saint Mark's Basilica & Bell Tower, Doge's Palace, and Correr Museum. Mind you, we didn't go into any of these places, but we admired them from outside. Instead of going inside, Mia fed pigeons with a girl who was visiting from Spain, and she bought a purple Venice sweatshirt.
We continued walking the streets and made our way to Rialto Bridge. In a book Mia read, the protagonist was dangled by her aunt and uncle from the Bridge and used her magic to get out of the situation, so Mia was excited for us to dangle her over the edge of the bridge, which we didn't do. Although, we did take the classic photo of Venice with gondolas. On our way back, Mia tried on various masks as Venice prepared for Carnival.
MURANO: The next day we took a water taxi to Murano and visited the Glass Museum, which was okay. If they'd had someone making glass, it would have brought the experience to life. Mia loved looking at the glass trinkets, and Patchen waited patiently for us to peruse the shops. As we passed one shop the owner was blowing glass, so Mia and I popped in and watched him, and I bought a bracelet he'd made. When I asked him how long he'd been blowing glass, he said that his grandfather taught him the art when he was 16, and he's been doing it since. It was such a lovely experience for me, and it made my time there special. We had lunch and gelato, and then made our way back to Venice.
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